statism watch

Related: North Korea rejects talks with UN Command on sinking of warship | G8 wraps with money for maternal NGOs and words for Iran, N. Korea | U.S. to Join South Korean Military Exercise Off North Korea Coast | North Korea reacts angrily as Seoul’s navy holds military exercises off coast | North Korea to sever ties with South | Hitchens: North Korean’s stature, worldview stunted by authoritarian hate and ignorance | North Korea calls for peace treaty with US | State Of War Between Two Koreas After Armistice Ended | Swiss nuclear-smuggling suspect says CIA made him do it | How the USA Gave North Korea The Bomb

The Telegraph
June 28, 2010

North Korea said Monday it would bolster its nuclear weaponry in response to what it branded US hostility

It comes as world leaders intensified pressure on Pyongyang over the sinking of a South Korean warship.

Recent developments underscore the need for the North “to bolster its nuclear deterrent in a newly developed way” to cope with persistent US hostility and its military threat, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Baek Seung-Joo of the (South) Korea Institute for Defence Analyses, said the statement indicates the North would start developing nuclear weapons based on highly enriched uranium.

After years of denial, the hardline communist state last September announced it had reached the final stage of enriching uranium – a second way of making nuclear bombs in addition to its original plutonium-based operation.

Tensions have been high on the peninsula since Seoul, citing a multinational investigation, accused its neighbour of sinking a South Korean warship near the disputed border in March with the loss of 46 lives.

The North, which angrily denies responsibility, has threatened a military response if the UN Security Council takes action over the issue.

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Related: U.S. to Join South Korean Military Exercise Off North Korea Coast | North Korea reacts angrily as Seoul’s navy holds military exercises off coast | North Korea to sever ties with South | Hitchens: North Korean’s stature, worldview stunted by authoritarian hate and ignorance | North Korea calls for peace treaty with US | State Of War Between Two Koreas After Armistice Ended | Swiss nuclear-smuggling suspect says CIA made him do it | How the USA Gave North Korea The Bomb

Hyung-Jin Kim, Associated Press
June 27, 2010

Related: Iran to send ship through Gaza blockade | Iran Threatens to Stop Western Ships if Subjected to Cargo Inspection | Israel to allow limited imports to Gaza, economic siege to remain in place | Gaza flotilla attack: activist releases new footage | Freedom flotilla assault timeline unclear, Israel holding confiscated video evidence | Israel’s seizure of Gaza aid boat Rachel Corrie sparks further condemnation | Autopsy: Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range | Gaza flotilla activists unarmed: Canadian | Gaza flotilla attack: British activists tell of abuse by Israelis | Israel to reject UN call for flotilla raid probe, MV Rachel Corrie under steam | IDF: ‘Activists threw stun grenades’ | Israel to deport all detained aid flotilla activists by end of day | Ex-Mossad agent: Gaza flotilla raid ’so stupid it’s stupefying’ | Knesset member and eyewitness: Israel fired before boarding ship | Protests in Middle East, Europe, follow deadly Israeli attack on flotilla as UN convenes emergency session | Israeli troops attack ship carrying aid to Gaza killing 16 | Israeli navy prepares for action as activists’ flotilla nears Gaza | George Galloway, on aid mission to Gaza, is deported from Egypt | UN body endorses Gaza war crimes report | UN body debates Gaza war crimes report | UN condemns ‘war crimes’ in Gaza | Israeli soldiers allege abuses against Palestinians | Cynthia McKinney Demands Immediate Release After Her Gaza-Bound Boat is Seized by Israeli Navy | Israeli troops kill apartheid wall protester | Israeli military whistleblowers: troops fired on children | Israel pulls land forces from Gaza, gunboats continue shelling coast | Israel admits troops used phosphorus shells in Gaza | Israel steps up Gaza withdrawal after ceasefire | Hamas joins fragile Israeli ceasefire | Israel declares ceasefire | Unusually Large U.S. Weapons Shipment to Israel | Video shows proof of phosphorous bombs in Gaza | Aid destroyed as UN’s Gaza HQ hit by Israeli fire | Protests over Israel’s Gaza offensive held in Canadian, world cities | Israel ignores ceasefire plea, pounds Gaza | UN relief agency halts aid to Gaza, citing Israeli attacks on staff | Rockets fired from Lebanon hit northern Israel | Israel is on its way to reoccupying all of the Gaza Strip | Israeli shelling kills dozens at UN school in Gaza | Tanks, rockets, death and terror: Gazan civilian catastrophe unfolding | They hate us for our bombs | Israeli army set for invasion | Food, medicine, fuel needed in Gaza, agencies warn | Gaza relief boat carrying former Congresswoman rammed by Israelis | Worldwide protests urge end to attacks on Gaza

Steve Watson, Infowars.net
June 23, 2010

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to tighten the blockade against Gaza, the castrated corporate media in the U.S. is reporting that Israeli restrictions are being eased.

Last week, Netanyahu’s office released a statement in English that vowed to “liberalize the system by which civilian goods enter Gaza” and “Expand the inflow of materials for civilian projects that are under international supervision”.

The headlines quickly followed:

“Israel Eases Restrictions on Goods Bound for Gaza Strip” (Washington Post)
“Israel to Ease Gaza Land Blockade” (New York Times)
“Israel to Ease Blockade of Gaza, Cabinet Says” (CNN)
“Israel says it will ease Gaza blockade” (MSNBC)

And on and on…

However, none of these outlets reported on the fact that Netanyahu’s security cabinet never actually reached any agreement to do anything regarding the blockade.

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Which is precisely the line we’re being fed here in Canada as well.

Related: Afghan deployment past 2011 possible: MPs | NATO to begin handing control to Afghans | Canadian Afghan withdrawal could pass through Pakistan | Full Afghan withdrawal ‘wrong,’ top Tory says | U.S. to press for Canada to keep troops in Afghanistan | No way to escape Afghan combat post-2011, Hillier says | Troops get non-combat role in Afghanistan after 2011 | Conservatives claim ‘no decision’ made on leaving some troops in Afghanistan past 2011 | ‘Some’ Troops to stay in Afghanistan past 2011: McKay

Agence France-Press
June 20, 2010

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates rejected suggestions Sunday that US forces will move out of Afghanistan in large numbers in July of next year under a deadline set by President Barack Obama.

“That absolutely has not been decided,” Gates said in an interview with Fox News Sunday.

His comment was the latest indication that the magnitude of the drawdown, if not the deadline itself, is the subject of an intensifying internal debate at a time when a NATO-led campaign against the Taliban is going slower than expected.

Vice President Joe Biden, an early skeptic of the US military buildup in Afghanistan, was quoted as telling author Jonathan Alter recently: “In July of 2011, you’re going to see a whole lot of people moving out. Bet on it.”

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel did not deny the Biden quote when asked about it, but, like Gates, said that the size of the drawdown would depend on conditions on the ground.

“Everybody knows there’s a firm date. And that firm date is a date (that) deals with the troops that are part of the surge, the additional 30,000,” he said in an interview with ABC “This Week.”

“What will be determined at that date or going into that date will be the scale and scope of that reduction,” he said.

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Related (Blackwater): Controversial use of mercenary forces surges in Afghanistan | Defence Department official used private contractors for spy network in AfPak | Ex-Blackwater contractors charged with Afghan killings | US court dismisses charges against Blackwater security guards | CIA admits Blackwater presence in Pakistan | Blackwater guards linked to secret CIA raids | Blackwater’s Erik Prince: Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy | Taliban: Blackwater to blame for Pakistan attacks | Report: Blackwater approved plan to pay off Iraqi officials | Taliban Chief Blames Blackwater, ISI for Peshawar Blast | Rape case to force defence contractors Halliburton/KBR into the open | Ex-employees claim Blackwater pimped out young Iraqi girls | Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Implicated in Murder | Obama’s Blackwater? Chicago Mercenary Firm Gets Millions for Private “Security” in Israel and Iraq | Blackwater, mired in Iraq controversy, changes its name to ‘Xe’ | Official: Blackwater contract for Iraq not renewed | Blackwater Guards facing Charges in Case of 17 Dead Iraqi Citizens | Madsen: CIA collusion with “Al Qaeda” financiers and attack planners | Blackwater-linked firm to train Canadian troops | Canadian troops continue gearing up, to receive US counter-insurgency training | Blackwater Worldwide, Wal-Mart of modern war

Related (Airstrikes): WikiLeaks to release video of deadly US airstrike in Garani | US drone attack ‘kills Pakistan insurgents’ | CIA Drones No Longer Need a Name to Kill | Pakistan air strike ‘kills 71 civilians’ | WikiLeaks releases video of alleged U.S. helicopter attack on Reuters reporters | 1 in 3 Killed by U.S. Drone Attacks In Pakistan Are Civilians | Afghan ministers voice anger as civilians killed in Nato air strike | Five civilians killed in Nato rocket attack in Afghanistan | Suspected US drone ‘kills 12′ in Pakistan | U.S. prods Pakistan to expand offensive | Pakistan anti-Taliban offensive in South Waziristan ‘over’ | U.S. Military Joins CIA’s Drone War in Pakistan | US Air Force confirms new ‘Beast of Kandahar’ drone | German army chief resigns over Afghanistan air strike | Clinton confronted by Pakistanis over attacks by aerial drones | UN: Drone attacks may violate international law | US drone ’shot down over Somalia’ | Refugee flood reveals human cost of South Waziristan’s invisible war | ‘Taliban’ resist Pakistan onslaught | Pakistani troops assault ‘Taliban’ stronghold | Militants attack Pakistani cities | Pakistan launches air strikes before offensive | NATO pledges probe of deadly Afghan air strike; civilians killed | Pakistan remains silent as U.S. air attack kills 80 | Afghan Airstrike Video Goes Down the Memory Hole | Homing chips are CIA’s latest weapon against ‘al-Qaida’ targets hiding in Pakistan’s tribal belt | CIA: Our Drones are Killing Terrorists. Promise | US air strikes kill dozens of Afghan civilians | NATO denies air strike killed Afghan civilians | Don’t-ask-don’t-tell Policy: Pakistan and U.S. Have Tacit Deal On Airstrikes | Death toll climbs after U.S. air strike in Pakistan

Rod Nordland, New York Times
June 19, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan — Ten civilians, including at least five women and children, were killed in NATO airstrikes in Khost Province, the provincial police chief said Saturday. Five other civilians were killed, as were two Afghan National Army soldiers and two police officials, in other violence around the country on Saturday.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said in a statement that it had carried out precision airstrikes against a large number of armed insurgents from the Haqqani network, Taliban allies operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“We are aware of conflicting reports of civilian casualties from local officials and are therefore reviewing the operational details of the engagement,” the force said in a statement. “Our mission is to protect the population and we will accept full responsibility if civilians were unintentionally harmed in the intense fight against the insurgents.”

Coalition forces claimed to have killed at least 17 Taliban insurgents in six operations throughout the country, including a Taliban subcommander, Mullah Abdul Razaq. The International Security Assistance Force said Mr. Razaq was suspected of involvement in a roadside bombing that killed two American soldiers in northern Kunduz Province on Wednesday. ISAF said Mr. Razaq and “a number of insurgents” were killed on a raid on their compound in the Chahar Darah District.

Thirteen of the Taliban fighters were killed in two airstrikes in the Zadran Valley, in eastern Paktika Province, according to a spokesman for the Paktika governor’s office. Only one was an Afghan, he said; the others were Pakistani or Arab insurgents.

The United States Embassy here said Saturday that the company once known as Blackwater Worldwide has been awarded a contract worth more than $120 million to protect new United States consulates in the Afghan cities of Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif, The Associated Press reported.

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That’s serious. You’re not helping, Iran, considering that any time we board one of your ships, that must of course be considered legitimate peeacekeeping activity – whereas if you board one of our ships, this is an act of international terrorism. Don’t like it? Want medical isotopes and a nuclear industry to back up your inadequate refining capacity? We may not have Saddam the known CIA asset and the Iraqi army to unleash against your border like last time, but Israel’s got these nukes, see? And we’ve got a public bathed in propaganda that’s itching for another televised war.

Related: Tucker Bilderberg 2010 Wrapup: Attack on Iran discussed, World Treasury Dept delayed | Iran has ‘fuel for 2 nukes’: UN report | Israel rejects UN call to come clean on nuclear program | MIddle East arms treaty a go despite US ‘deep regret’ over focus on Israeli nuclear arsenal | Disclosure of apartheid-era warhead negotiations with South Africa tip Israel’s nuclear hand | Obama starts massive US Air-Sea-Marine build-up opposite Iran | US claims Security Council backing for Iran sanctions | Iran brokers deal with Turkey for uranium enrichment | Dublin Trilateral attendees let slip need for world govt, war with Iran, Bilderberg oversight | UN-led uranium deal still on table: Iran | Robert Gates says White House lacks plan to deal with Iran nuclear threat | China sells petrol to Iran while talking at UN about sanctions | Nuclear summit urges anti-terror treaty | Enriched uranium going back to U.S.: PM | Iran unveils new uranium centrifuges | Barack Obama to limit use of US nuclear weapons | Russia claims breakthrough in historic nuclear reduction agreement with US | Israeli preparations for war with Iran troubling | Russia to push ahead on Iran missile deal | Iran could be making nuclear warhead, says new director of IAEA | US media omission: Iran calls for global nuclear disarmament | Obama threatens actions against Iran over nuclear program | UN sanctions urged over Iran’s uranium plans | Western powers voice scepticism over Iran uranium offer | U.S. deploys land and sea-based missile shield in the Gulf to deter attack from Iran | UK: Tony Blair attempts to shift focus to Iran as ‘global threat’ at Iraq war inquiry | Chomsky says Israel, ‘US military base’ | Russia has no evidence of Iran nuclear bomb-Putin | IAEA members question Iran nuclear intel authenticity | US military could strike Iran, but at what cost? | Another War in the Works | Iran to allow nuclear site inspection | Iran plays into Obama’s hands with disclosure of nuclear facility | UN approves nuclear ‘disarmament’ resolution | Obama scales back missile defence shield in Europe | Israel ‘will attack Iran this year’ if West does not cripple Tehran with sanctions | Brookings Publication mentions possibility of ‘Horrific Provocation’ to Trigger Iran Invasion | Blast at Iranian mosque raises tensions in run-up to presidential election | Netanyahu: We may be forced to attack Iran | Proposed Missile Shield seen as Provocation by Russia | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Russia threatens to ’strike’ Poland in wake of U.S. missile plan | Cheney Considered False Flag Operation to Justify War with Iran | US scales up covert destabilization efforts in Iran, continues funding ‘al-Qaeda’ | Israelis ‘rehearse Iran attack’ | Israeli official says attack on Iran ‘unavoidable’ | Bush ‘plans Iran air strike by August’ | U.S. Navy starts exercises in Gulf waters | U.S. National Intelligence Estimate: Iran stopped nuclear weapons work in 2003 | Cheney Orders Media To Sell Attack On Iran | U.S. sending third aircraft carrier to the Middle East | US aircraft carriers in Persian Gulf | Investigative Reporter Seymour Hersh: US Indirectly Funding Al-Qaeda Linked Sunni Groups in Move to Counter Iran | How the USA Gave North Korea The Bomb | Former CIA Officer – US Plans Nuclear Attack On Iran

Kurt Nimmo, PrisonPlanet.com
June 17, 2010

Iran’s parliament has warned it will respond in kind to inspection of its ships under a fourth round of sanctions imposed on the country by the UN Security Council. A new round of sanctions are being drafted by the United States and the European Union.

“We warn the US and certain adventurist countries that if they are tempted to inspect Iranian air and ship cargos, we will take tough action against their ships in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman,” said Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on Wednesday. Larijani said any retaliatory move would be part of the country’s policy to defend national interests, according to the Fars News Agency.

Larijani said the Iranian parliament “calls on the government to not lessen the level of uranium enrichment below 20 percent since these countries have violated the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and refused to provide 20-percent enriched fuel for Tehran’s research reactor.”

Belgium’s Le Soir newspaper reported that European Union foreign ministers have agreed on a new package of EU sanctions against Iran. The new round of sanctions to be discussed at an EU summit on June 17 are in addition to sanctions imposed by the United Nations. Le Soir said the new EU sanctions will include a freeze on investment in Iran’s oil and gas sector and a ban on technology and equipment transfer.

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Related: Gaza flotilla attack: activist releases new footage | Freedom flotilla assault timeline unclear, Israel holding confiscated video evidence | Israel’s seizure of Gaza aid boat Rachel Corrie sparks further condemnation | Autopsy: Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range | Gaza flotilla activists unarmed: Canadian | Gaza flotilla attack: British activists tell of abuse by Israelis | Israel to reject UN call for flotilla raid probe, MV Rachel Corrie under steam | IDF: ‘Activists threw stun grenades’ | Israel to deport all detained aid flotilla activists by end of day | Ex-Mossad agent: Gaza flotilla raid ’so stupid it’s stupefying’ | Knesset member and eyewitness: Israel fired before boarding ship | Protests in Middle East, Europe, follow deadly Israeli attack on flotilla as UN convenes emergency session | Israeli troops attack ship carrying aid to Gaza killing 16 | Israeli navy prepares for action as activists’ flotilla nears Gaza | George Galloway, on aid mission to Gaza, is deported from Egypt | UN body endorses Gaza war crimes report | UN body debates Gaza war crimes report | UN condemns ‘war crimes’ in Gaza | Israeli soldiers allege abuses against Palestinians | Cynthia McKinney Demands Immediate Release After Her Gaza-Bound Boat is Seized by Israeli Navy | Israeli troops kill apartheid wall protester | Israeli military whistleblowers: troops fired on children | Israel pulls land forces from Gaza, gunboats continue shelling coast | Israel admits troops used phosphorus shells in Gaza | Israel steps up Gaza withdrawal after ceasefire | Hamas joins fragile Israeli ceasefire | Israel declares ceasefire | Unusually Large U.S. Weapons Shipment to Israel | Video shows proof of phosphorous bombs in Gaza | Aid destroyed as UN’s Gaza HQ hit by Israeli fire | Protests over Israel’s Gaza offensive held in Canadian, world cities | Israel ignores ceasefire plea, pounds Gaza | UN relief agency halts aid to Gaza, citing Israeli attacks on staff | Rockets fired from Lebanon hit northern Israel | Israel is on its way to reoccupying all of the Gaza Strip | Israeli shelling kills dozens at UN school in Gaza | Tanks, rockets, death and terror: Gazan civilian catastrophe unfolding | They hate us for our bombs | Israeli army set for invasion | Food, medicine, fuel needed in Gaza, agencies warn | Gaza relief boat carrying former Congresswoman rammed by Israelis | Worldwide protests urge end to attacks on Gaza

Steve Gutkin, Associated Press
June 17, 2010

JERUSALEM—An Israeli decision Thursday to ease its blockade of Gaza under intense international pressure could spell the beginning of the end of the chokehold that has hurt ordinary Gazans far more than their militant Hamas rulers.

The order to allow in all foods and some desperately needed construction materials brought calls for Israel to go much further and did little to quell the global outcry over the deadly flotilla raid May 31 that tried to bust the embargo.

With a naval blockade in place and Israel giving no indication it will lift a ban on Gaza exports, Palestinians dismissed the move as cosmetic.

Yet the announcement was an unmistakable sign of Israeli leaders’ extreme discomfort with the damage the bloody flotilla raid has done to their country’s international standing — and an indication the blockade’s days may be numbered.

Israel made its decision after consultations with U.S. and European officials, and a week after President Barack Obama called the embargo unsustainable and urged that it be scaled back dramatically.

Mideast envoy Tony Blair, who helped work out the deal with Israel, called it a “good start.” The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said Israel must “make sure that many, many more goods can get in to Gaza” and added that “the detail is what matters.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner welcomed the announcement, saying the Obama administration wants to see “an expansion of the scope and types of goods into Gaza . . . while addressing, obviously, Israel’s legitimate security needs.”

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Related: Moscow opens Central Asian supply route for Afghan mission, NATO believes tide turning in Kandahar | Taliban support strong in Kandahar: poll | US special forces ‘tried to cover-up’ botched Khataba raid in Afghanistan | Afghan tension mounts as NATO offensive looms | WikiLeaks releases video of alleged U.S. helicopter attack on Reuters reporters | NATO prepares for major Kandahar offensive, refugee camps | British soldiers ‘tortured and murdered 20 Iraqis, then covered it up with firefight claim’ | Blackwater Guards facing Charges in Case of 17 Dead Iraqi Citizens | Afghan poll not as clear as it seems

The Globe and Mail
June 15, 2010

Lt.-Gen. Marc Lessard says insurgent activity has spiked

That’ll learn you, Saddam. Cut it out with those weapons of mass destruction. We know you have them.

Related: Iran has ‘fuel for 2 nukes’: UN report | Israel rejects UN call to come clean on nuclear program | MIddle East arms treaty a go despite US ‘deep regret’ over focus on Israeli nuclear arsenal | Disclosure of apartheid-era warhead negotiations with South Africa tip Israel’s nuclear hand | Obama starts massive US Air-Sea-Marine build-up opposite Iran | US claims Security Council backing for Iran sanctions | Iran brokers deal with Turkey for uranium enrichment | Dublin Trilateral attendees let slip need for world govt, war with Iran, Bilderberg oversight | UN-led uranium deal still on table: Iran | Robert Gates says White House lacks plan to deal with Iran nuclear threat | China sells petrol to Iran while talking at UN about sanctions | Nuclear summit urges anti-terror treaty | Enriched uranium going back to U.S.: PM | Iran unveils new uranium centrifuges | Barack Obama to limit use of US nuclear weapons | Russia claims breakthrough in historic nuclear reduction agreement with US | Israeli preparations for war with Iran troubling | Russia to push ahead on Iran missile deal | Iran could be making nuclear warhead, says new director of IAEA | US media omission: Iran calls for global nuclear disarmament | Obama threatens actions against Iran over nuclear program | UN sanctions urged over Iran’s uranium plans | Western powers voice scepticism over Iran uranium offer | U.S. deploys land and sea-based missile shield in the Gulf to deter attack from Iran | UK: Tony Blair attempts to shift focus to Iran as ‘global threat’ at Iraq war inquiry | Chomsky says Israel, ‘US military base’ | Russia has no evidence of Iran nuclear bomb-Putin | IAEA members question Iran nuclear intel authenticity | US military could strike Iran, but at what cost? | Another War in the Works | Iran to allow nuclear site inspection | Iran plays into Obama’s hands with disclosure of nuclear facility | UN approves nuclear ‘disarmament’ resolution | Obama scales back missile defence shield in Europe | Israel ‘will attack Iran this year’ if West does not cripple Tehran with sanctions | Brookings Publication mentions possibility of ‘Horrific Provocation’ to Trigger Iran Invasion | Blast at Iranian mosque raises tensions in run-up to presidential election | Netanyahu: We may be forced to attack Iran | Proposed Missile Shield seen as Provocation by Russia | Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack | Russia threatens to ’strike’ Poland in wake of U.S. missile plan | Cheney Considered False Flag Operation to Justify War with Iran | US scales up covert destabilization efforts in Iran, continues funding ‘al-Qaeda’ | Israelis ‘rehearse Iran attack’ | Israeli official says attack on Iran ‘unavoidable’ | Bush ‘plans Iran air strike by August’ | U.S. Navy starts exercises in Gulf waters | U.S. National Intelligence Estimate: Iran stopped nuclear weapons work in 2003 | Cheney Orders Media To Sell Attack On Iran | U.S. sending third aircraft carrier to the Middle East | US aircraft carriers in Persian Gulf | Investigative Reporter Seymour Hersh: US Indirectly Funding Al-Qaeda Linked Sunni Groups in Move to Counter Iran | How the USA Gave North Korea The Bomb | Former CIA Officer – US Plans Nuclear Attack On Iran

Louis Charbonneau and Patrick Worsnip, Reuters
June 9, 2010

Iran’s UN ambassador said the push for sanctions over his country’s nuclear program showed that some countries “prefer confrontation”

UNITED NATIONS — The UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions on a defiant Iran on Wednesday over a nuclear program the West suspects is aimed at developing the means to build atom bombs.

The 15-nation council passed a resolution that was the product of five months of talks between the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia. With 12 votes in favor, it received the least support of the four Iran sanctions resolutions adopted since 2006.

The four Western powers had wanted much tougher measures — some targeting Iran’s energy sector — but Beijing and Moscow succeeded in diluting the steps outlined in the 10-page resolution.

“This council has risen to its responsibilities. Now Iran should choose a wiser course,” U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice told the council after the vote.

Iran denies Western allegations that it is seeking nuclear weapons, insisting that its uranium enrichment program is for peaceful energy purposes only.

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We’ve been recently treated to a couple of highly questionable ‘terrorist’ stories with a Somali connection in the past month – first, of course, the Times Square bombing with its fizzled ‘bomb’ – the back of a hatchback containing fireworks, nails, and a couple BBQ cylinders – and just yesterday, two kids out of Jersey got it in their head to fly out to Somalia and try to find an al-Shabab recruiter. Now, what do you think happens next?

Related: Two men arrested at JFK, were attempting to find terror group to join | Obama secretly deploys US special forces to 75 countries across world | US drone ’shot down over Somalia’ | US Africom ‘has no hidden agenda’

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, The Guardian
June 7, 2010

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reports from Mogadishu where presence of US drones reveals western anxiety over country’s conflict

On a side street off Mogadishu’s Wadnaha Road frontline a young officer is explaining the unwritten rules of the city’s intractable civil war as his men exchange fire with an unseen enemy.

The fighters shooting at him are from the Hizb al-Islam, he explains. He knows this because they fight longer than al-Shabab, the other main Islamist group besieging Somalia’s tiny government-held enclave, but also because they told him. “We have friends there. They tell us before they leave their base that they are going to attack. When they want to fire mortars they tell us so we can take cover.”

If the conflict that has turned Mogadishu into a virtual no-go zone for 19 years occasionally resembles a grim farce, there is nothing farcical about the scene around us.

Nearby lies an array of flip flops in different shapes and sizes and always in singles: blues, reds, purples, tiny plastic ones with flower designs and large leather ones attesting to previous skirmishes, advances and retreats. A jungle of trees and shrubs has taken over the deserted street so that the soldiers have to push the branches with their elbows and guns to make a path. Houses and shops are shattered, empty and riddled with bullet holes.

Somalia is the world’s invisible conflict, and perhaps its least comprehensible. Since January last year, when Ethiopia pulled out of the country, the Islamist government of Sharif Ahmed has been locked in an attritional struggle with al-Shabab, a more radical offshoot of the Islamic Courts movement, the alliance of tribal sharia courts which once controlled most of southern Somalia. The government is also under attack from Hizb al-Islam, many of whom fought alongside Ahmed against the Ethiopia.

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